Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, right, seen here with Kamillah Hanks, Borough Hall liasion to the Panel for Education Policy, left, has visited Staten Island numerous times since she was appointed, and has heard complaints from special education parents, teachers and advocates about the system. (Staten Island Advance)

Soon after she took the position, Island parents of special-needs children showed up in force at a public forum to tell the chancellor that Island public schools are not meeting the needs of their children, calling for more programs, as well as better training for teachers and support personnel.

Laura Timoney has been a member of the borough's Community Education Council since 2012.

"Here on Staten Island, nearly a quarter of our students have an IEP. We need to take a really hard look at the services being offered to see if they meet the students' needs," said Community Education Council (CEC) member Laura Timoney.

But the DOE's choice for the person in charge of implementing reforms has no state license in supervision or administration and no classroom experience in special education.

In fact, while the position does not "require" specific credentials, Johannah Chase doesn't have a valid teaching license.

A DOE announcement of Ms. Chase's appointment in March described her position: "The chief executive officer of the Special Education Office is responsible for the overall leadership and day-to-day management of the SEO," as well as serving as "the lead and key point on all issues related to special education," under Deputy Chancellor Corinne Rello-Anselmi, an educator with more than 30 years' experience in the schools as a teacher and administrator.

THE AMBITIOUS REFORM PLAN

The special education office is in charge of day-to-day management of the system that serves more than 200,000 students; involves supervising teams at 13 sites in all five boroughs, with more than 800 field staff; overseeing the administration of federal and state grants, and ensuring compliance, implementing services to children and working with parents, advocates, community members and union officials.

A central policy shift in the "Shared Plan for Success" reform is "home-zoning" of special education students.

In the past, a student with a particular special need would often be placed at a school with the resources best suited to meet that need.

Under the reform, the student remains at his or her zoned school and the school is now responsible for providing the service.

While the intended benefit is to keep students close to home, problems frequently surface when the school does not have the needed programs or staffing in place. The reform is aimed at "home zoning" all students, except the most extreme cases, which are shifted to an appropriate District 75 special education school.

ADVOCATE CALLS EXPERIENCE 'A MUST'

Commenting on the personnel decision, Mrs. Timoney, the CEC member and special ed advocate who is also a parent of a child with an IEP, said classroom experience with special-needs students is a "must."

"Special education reform is a huge undertaking. As a parent and advocate, I would hope that the boots-on-the-ground person in charge would at least have some experience with the special-needs population and people who work with them in the schools," she said.

One veteran Staten Island special ed employee with the DOE said part of the problem is that the reforms were rolled out without adequate planning: "The special education reforms were put in place with schools ill-equipped to handle the needs of all the special education students now remaining with them. Having special education leadership at the top lacking special education experience has translated into placing unrealistic expectations on schools ... and students pay the price."

"Special education reforms are a work in progress. It's an issue of accountability to our students," declared Laura Kennedy, a long-time advocate for special needs children and an Advance Woman of Achievement.

"The question that needs to be asked is whether the right people are being put in the right position to carry out these reforms successfully," added Mrs. Kennedy, who serves as director of the Staten Island Early Childhood Direction Center.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

In researching this report, the Department of Education was asked the specific questions listed below. The DOE's first response did not answer any of them directly. The public information office was given a second chance to respond, but did not. The agency also did not respond to the reporter's formal request to speak directly with the chancellor or the CEO.

1 -- Was the chancellor and DOE aware (of the appointee's) lack of licenses or special ed experience when they appointed her in March, as the DOE release says, to be the person "responsible for the overall leadership and day-to-day management" of special ed?

2 -- Is there a reason why she has no current license in education at all?

3 -- How can she be the person in charge of the chancellor's special ed reforms without a license or any experience in the field?

Her DOE profile shows she joined the school system's central administrative staff in 2008.

Prior to that she taught eighth-grade English at Harlem's KIPP:STAR Charter School for a year, and was a 2005 Teach For America corps member, teaching eighth grade math at The Essence School in Brooklyn.

She began her career in education as a recruiter with Teach For America in Southern California.

She holds a master's degree in teaching from Pace University, and bachelor's degree in government from Cornell University. Before being appointed to her current position in March, she was chief operating officer for DOE's division of students with disabilities.

DEFENDING THE DECISION

In response to a detailed e-mail seeking answers to a list of concerns and questions, including a formal request to speak with the chancellor and Ms. Chase, the agency's office of public information issued a general statement defending the leadership decision.

In the response, Deputy Chancellor Rello-Anselmi said she works as a team with Ms. Chase and staff, who report directly to her.

"The chief executive for special education is a managerial position," she said in the statement. "Johannah manages a strong team that includes special education policy and instruction experts. Johannah's track record of success makes her ideal for this role."

She said her team, including Ms. Chase, is currently working to create more choices for Staten Island parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). "Given the needs of the Staten Island community, this will continue as we increase the availability of seats in these programs by 23 percent for the 2014-2015 school year."

After receiving the statement, the DOE was asked again to address the specific questions that were posed in the initial email. The public information office has yet to respond or agree to have the chancellor or Ms. Chase speak on the record.

"My position is that anyone at the top level in a supervisory or administrative position in special ed should have three qualifications,'' said special education advocate Andrea Lella, who went on to outline what they should be.Staten Island Advance

Special education advocate Andrea Lella, of Families Helping Families, said lack of classroom and field experience in special ed, and lack of licensing and certification is a reoccurring problem she's encountered.

"My position is that anyone at the top level in a supervisory or administrative position in special ed should have three qualifications: An adequate level of classroom experience of at least five years; a proven and successful track record of at least two to three years in special ed supervision and administration, and most importantly, have a passion for special education, for dealing with the kids, the parents, the teachers and professionals, and the problems they face," Mrs. Lella said.